Pad or blank holding and feeding device.



No. 730,451. I A ATENTBD JUNE 9, 1903.

n Y' n 11.73. FRIEND.

BAD 0R BLANK HOLDING AND FEBDNG DEVICE.

unmmrox FILED un 2o. 190s. no MODEL. n y l z'sHBBTs-SHELT 2Q UNITED STATES" PATENT Patented June 9,' 190.

OFFICE.

ROGER B. FRIEND, o F OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA. l

srEcIFIcATIoN forming para of Letters' Patent Nerea-15,1, dated June e, 1903,

Appiicanun nai Marzo, 1902.

To all whom it may concern,.- Y

Beit known that I, ROGER B. FRIEND, a citizen of the United States, residing in Oakland,

county of Alameda, State of California, have' hereinafter describe and claim.

Figure l is a' transverse vertical section showing gearing. Fig. 2 is a plan view of gearing. Fig. 3 is a section showing cam mechanism. Fig. it is a perspective view showing extension vdesk and table. Fig.'5 is a perspective bottom view of table and eXtension. Fig. '6 is a partial section showing ballbearing holders. Fig. 7 is a detail of the spring 27.

Blanks such as are used for telegraphic or insurance purposes, for making out moneyorders in the Post-Office Department, and for many other purposes are conveniently put up in packages which are bound or connected together at one edge so that each blank or sheet may be removed after being used. These packages are often quite thick, and in order to conveniently Write upon the upper-v most one it is necessary to have some support for the hand and arm which will bring them approximately level with the surface to be written on. Such support is frequently inconvenient to be had.

lIt is the object of my invention to provide a desk with a rising and falling platform or surface upon which the pad or blanks may be supported and vby means of which the np-V per surface of the pad or blanks may be kept constantly at such a level as to be convenient for the Writer.

My invention consists of a desk A, of any suitable size or construction, preferably slightly inclined and adapted to allow the writer to rest his hand or forearm upon it.

serai Na 108,207. CND man.;

`Within an opening in the desk is afable 2,

havinganfarea approximately equal to that of the. opening, and this table is supported upon-devices by which it may be constantly 'raised as fast as blanks are used or removed from the upper surface of the pad which is placed thereom'so that the surface may be keptvapproximately level with that of the desk and convenient for the use of the Writeri In order to 'first introduce the blanks, the table must be depressed, and the mechanism by which it is raised is also capable of being depressed to a pointlow enough to contain the` blanks Which'are designed to be used upon the table. Many forms of such devices may be used. lIn Figs. l and 2 I have shown a desk adapted to use large blanks, the opening in the desk being of such size as to accommodate blanks of this description. In order to raise and lower the table, I have shown standards 3, slidable in veitically-iixed guides, as at 4. These standards Aare toothed and form rack-bars, and theteeth project from one side of the guides, -so as to engage with the teeth of gears 5, which are mounted upon a horizontal shaft or shafts, as at 6.

Forsmall blanks one set of vertically-moving 'rack-bars 3, one at each end of the table 2, 'will ordinarily be sufficient to support and guide the table in its movements, in which case the shaft 6 may extend through the side of the case,` and upon the outer end. it has a knob or hand-'Wheel 7, by which it can be readily turned. A ratchet-wheel, as shown at 8, ris xed to the shaft, and a` fulcrnmed .spring-pressed pawl 9 is adapted to engage the ratchet-Wheel, thus holding'the latter, the shaft, and the table at any desired point of elevation. After the table has been elevated ashigh as it will go and the blanks exhaustfe'd the table may be again depressed by disengagmg the pawl 9 from the'ratchet-Wheel. -This is easily effected byattachinga 'thumbgpiece, as at 10, to the opposite .end of the fulcrumed pawl, so that by pressing upon this vneath the table.

to be properly carried and supported by the single pair of standards 3, another set may be employed, so that the four standards form a rectangular support at suitable distances from the edges of the table 2. ln this case it is necessary to provide for the operation of both sets of standards 3 and 3L in unison. This is effected by means of a second shaft 11, journaled within the case parallel with the shaft 6, and each of the shafts carries toothed gears 12, which are in line with each other transversely to the shafts. These gears engage with horizontally guided and slidable rack-bars 13, which are held by their guides in mesh with the gears 12, so that when the shaft 6 is turned in either direction the gears 12, acting upon the rack-bars 13, will cause the shaft 11 to be turned inunison with the shaft 6. The shaft 1l carries gears 5, similar to the gears 5, and these engage theteeth of the vertical rack-bars 3" in the same manner that the gears 5 engage the rack-bars 3. Thus by turning the hand-wheel 7 both shafts will be caused to move simultaneously to either raise or lower all four of the supporting-standards 3a.

In place of the gears and toothed rack-bars I may in some cases employ a device consisting of lever arms or cams 14, iixed to shafts 15, which are journaled below the table 2, so that the latter will rest upon the lever arms or cams, and by turning the shafts 15 thes' arms or cams are moved so as to raise or lower the table in the same manner as described for the gears and rack-bars. In order to raise and lower these arms in unison, I have shown them connected by links 16 with a two-armed crank or equivalent disk 17, which is fixed upon a journal-shaft 1S intermediate between the shafts 15. One of the links 16 connects above the shaft 18 and the other below. The shaft 1S extends through the exterior of the case and is provided with a turning-wheel and a pawl and ratchet similar to the devices described for the shaft 6. It is only necessary to turn this shaft when, through the connecting-links, the ends of the cams or levers may be raised or depressed, carrying the table which rests upon them and the pad which lies upon the table.

In some cases the devices hitherto described are especially designed for pads of a certain size, for which the apparatus has been designed; but if it is desired to employ the apparatus for various sizes of pads the table 2 may be made as large as the largest pad which it will be required to use thereon. This table has slots formed in the edges, as shown at 20, and clips 21 have extensions passing through the slots and connected with springs 22 be- The tendency of these springs is to draw the clips toward each other, and the edges of the clips will grasp the sides of any pad or blank which may be introduced between them. Thus by separating them any so as to clasp the edges of the pad. In order to also hold the pad longitudinally, I have shown a clamping-bar 23, having upturned edges, and this bar is iixed to slides 24:, which are movable in guides beneath the table.

The table may be set close to the upper end of the desk, as here shown, and the slide 23 may be slidable from the lower edge of the table, so as to be drawn out at right angles with the clamps 21 until it is sufficiently removed to allow the blank to be placed between the upper edge of the opening and the clamp 23, the latter being pushed up against the lower edge of the blankwhile the clamps 21 are drawn against the sides of the blank.

In order to accommodate the desk to the varying sizes of blanks thus used, the part A is here shown as mounted upon slides which are movable in guidesy 25, fixed to the base of the apparatus, and the desk can thus be withdrawn sufficiently to allow the blank to be placed between the clamps and afterward moved np to close Contact with the clamp 23, so that it will be practically close to thelower edge of the blanks.

It will be understood that instead of mov- "ing the lower part of the desk in this manner the opposite portion A may be made slidable and movable to admit the blank, in which case the Aportion A may be stationary, and the opposite portion A', carrying the blanks, will thenbe in close contact with the upper edge of the desk portion A. A spring 27 serves to hold the part A at any point of adjustment. This spring is in practice a iiat curved spring fixed at the ends so that the upward curve of vits center presses against the bottom of the movable part and makes suflicient friction to hold it against too free movement, but allows it to -be pushed out or in by sufficient pressure. With this form of desk eitherof the devices heretofore described for raising and lowering the table may be employed.

In some cases it may be found desirable to support the table 2 upon yelastic springs, of which there may be four, located beneath the corners of the table 2, so as to constantly press it upward. In such cases I have shown clamps or holders so fixed to the sides of the opening within which the table moves as to project slightly over the space occupied by the blank, and as the table and blank are pressed upwardly by the springs these projecting devices prevent the blank being lifted above the level of the desk. In order to render the blanks easily removable from beneath these clamps or holders, I prefer to make the clamps or holders with ball or equivalent bearin.gs,which will rest upon the blank, but which will yield freely to allow the top blank to be with drawn without tearing it. These devices are shown at 28, Figs. 3 and 6.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination in a desk having an IOO ITO

opening in the top and a rigid table vertically movable therein, of parallel shafts,vertically movable supports for the table and means including horizoutally-reciprocating members extending between said shafts and adapted to move the supports in unison.

2. The combination in a desk having an opening formed in the upper part, a slotted table movable therein, mechanism by which said table is raised or depressed to maintain the upper surface of the table substantially even with the top of the desk, and clamps mounted in the slots of said table and movable toward and from each other whereby blanks `of different sizes may be secured' thereto.

3. The combination of a desk having an opening, a table vertically movable in said opening, means by which said table may be raised or depressed within the opening, clamps carried by the table and guided and slidable to and from each other and springs by which they are normally drawn together whereby blanks or pads of various sizes may beheld between them, and other clamps slidable at right angles with the rst-named clamps whereby the remaining edges of the blanks may be inclosed, said desk including two portions one longitudinally movable relative to the other, one of said portions provided with slides and the other portion havtially even with the desk-top, and to allow the 4o sheets to be removed without damage.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

ROGER B. FRIEND.

Witnesses:

S. H. NoURsn, JEssIE C. BRODIE. 

